Word-Driven

A question that pops up with some regularity in ‘author talk’ is whether ones writing is ‘plot-driven’ or ‘character-driven.’ I’ve never been inclined to think too much about this; I just write the stories the way I feel they should be written. But, were I required to make some sort of statement on it, I would say neither. My writing is ‘word-driven.’ My first interest is language and its use.

That may or may not shove my writing in the direction of ‘literary fiction.’ I do not really care much. Labels are road signs, not the road itself. Still, an emphasis on language is a mark of literary fiction. As does ‘commercial’ fiction emphasize plot and ‘up-market’ focus on characters.*

All three—plot, characters, and language—are necessary components of fiction. The rest, setting and so on, is peripheral to these. Which we choose to emphasize is our personal choice though, to be sure, our chosen market or genre will have some bearing on it. I do feel the very best fiction finds an appropriate balance.

Perhaps I occasionally find that balance myself.

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*Commercial, up-market, and literary, as used by the publishing industry at this time, are essentially marketing categories, separate from ‘genre.’ Genre tends to be more about subject matter (though not always!).

Super-Genres

All fiction can be said to fall into three categories, which I choose to call Super-Genres.* These are Realistic Fiction, Surrealistic Fiction, and Speculative Fiction. This idea is neither new nor original to me, but it makes a great deal of sense (although, as all such ideas, it must by nature be a bit arbitrary).**

Realism—Realistic Fiction—is self-explanatory. It tells of the ‘real world,’ or, more accurately, our experience of the real world. It strives to tell of things as they are. Historical fiction, contemporary realism, crime stories, and so on fit into this category.

The Surrealist then takes that realistic world and twists it. There are no rules involved in what happens. Strange events are intended to jar rather than to make sense. This is not the same as genre Fantasy, with its internal logic and world-building.

This leaves Speculative Fiction, which covers a wide swath from ‘hard’ Science Fiction to ‘high’ Fantasy. This category differs from Surrealism in that it creates an entirely separate world with its own rules. Everything that happens is according to those rules; this is why Magic Realism is not Speculative Fiction (i.e genre Fantasy) but, rather, a subcategory of Surrealism.

‘Mainstream’ novels are, of course, Realistic Fiction. It is what is likely to be taught in most college writing courses. Some even consider it the only valid form of fiction, the only serious form, and feel the need to circle the wagons to protect it from those frivolous popular entertainments that lurk outside academia. But the Surrealist and the Speculative have coexisted with the Realist from the beginning of story-telling. They are every bit as much a part of our legacy.

Bits of surrealism do occasionally slip into the other two categories, bits of absurdity. That has always been true; it might be argued that a dash of the Surreal is a necessary component of humor. We have to look at the overall work to assign it to one of these three categories and even then it is not always completely clear-cut. Still, most will fall into a Super-Genre pretty readily; one can not find a more basic division of fiction. All genres and categories grow from these roots.

Stephen Brooke ©2024

*It seems as good a name as any.

**I’ve written (more than once) of this concept before, but could find my essays neither online nor in my own notes. So this is a complete rewrite ‘from scratch’ on the subject.